Re: [java-gnome-hackers] GtkBuilder branch

[Serkan K. <se...@ge...>]

2011/6/18 Vreixo Formoso Lopes <met...@ya...>:
> Hi all!
>
> I have created a branch with my approach to expose GtkBuilder, available at:
>
> http://research.operationaldynamics.com/bzr/java-gnome/hackers/vreixo/gtkbuilder/
>
>
>
> I plan to expose GtkBuilder as an annotation-based way of creating user
> interfaces, following the approach of Francho Bulgarelli to libglade, submitted
> several  years ago. In fact, my work is mainly an adaptation of Franco's
> implementation, although I also plan to make some changes. I don't want
> to follow with my discussion without first thank Franco for his huge
> contribution.
>
> The work in my branch is still in a preliminary stage, but you can already
> figure
>
> out the idea by looking at my code. Please download the branch and focus on
>
> org.gnome.gtk.Builder
>
> I have added a tiny demo application in doc/examples/builder, NotesDemo.java,
> that shows the possibilities of an annotation-based approach. Further work will
> address the signal connection by means of annotation, and many other things.
>
> I'm aware of the problems of GtkBuilder and similar approaches (that build user
> interfaces with an external program and then load them from an XML file),
> mainly related with the lack of type-safety (and note, however, that the
> annotation-based approach reduces its impact by detecting the possible
> problems at load time, without needing to execute all possible code paths).
>
> Anyway, this method for creating UI is very common in the java world (they
> come to my mind web-related frameworks such as JSP/JSTL, Tapestry,
> GWT's UiBinder, or the mobile Android platform with his layouts). Many
> java developers use to work this way and, indeed, it has several advantages
> too.
>
> I thus think we should offer support for this way of working in java-gnome, and
> the annotation-based approach is, in my opinion, the best one.
> I hope you take a look at the code and tell me your opinions about it, and any
> idea that could improve it. I'll try to provide a good implementation of
> GtkBuilder, making it easy for developers by means of the powerful capabilities
> of the Java platform. But, at the same time, I'll try to reduce as much as
> possible the limitations of the approach.
>
> If any of you have experience with GtkBuilder (I have not), please tell me what
> are the things you want support for in java-gnome, but also the main problems
> you've found when working with it, so we can address them the best possible
> way.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Best regards
> Vreixo Formoso
>
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I really like the idea of using dependency injection for ui object. well done.

Regards,
Serkan